Portugal’s economy benefited from increased trade ties to Europe and from EU financial aid aimed at improving the country’s infrastructure, including recent EU grants funding a significant portion of the costs of the massive Alqueva dam project on the Guadiana River.

Portugal has commercially important deposits of tin and copper and one of the world’s major reserves of wolframite, from which tungsten is derived.

Portugal’s entry in the EC spurred unprecedented economic growth, in part because the EC (and later its successor, the European Union) began to funnel large financial transfers to Portugal for economic modernization and infrastructure development.

Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south.

Portugal traces its emergence as a nation to June 24, 1128, with the Battle of São Mamede by Afonso I. On October 5, 1143, Portugal was formally recognized.

Portugal developed an increasingly service-based economy and it was one of the eleven founding countries of the Euro in 1999, with very restrictive criteria, and began circulating its new currency on January 1, 2002 along with 12 other EU members.

In addition to NATO, Portugal is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Western European Union (WEU), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Council of Europe.

In 1996 Portugal and six of its former colonies—Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe—formed the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (known by its Portuguese acronym, CPLP) in Lisbon.

Present-day Portugal became a part of the Roman province of Lusitania in the 2nd century bc.

Portugal traces its emergence as a nation to 24 June 1128, by the hand of Afonso Henriques, son of Henry and Theresa, who emerged victorious from the Battle of SÃ£o Mamede against his mother's retainers.

Portugal is a democratic republic.The four main organs of Portuguese politics are the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic, the Government, and the Courts.

Portugal developed an increasingly service-based economy and it was one of the eleven founding countries of the â¬ in 1999 and began circulating the new currency on January 1, 2002 along with eleven other EU members.

Portugal is a developed country, a member of the European Union since 1986, and a founding member of NATO and Eurozone.

Portugal came into existence as an independent nation on June 24, 1128, when Count Afonso of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, defeated his mother in battle, Countess Teresa, and her lover, Fernão Peres de Trava, thereby establishing himself as sole leader.

Although Portugal did not lose its formal independence, it was governed by the same monarch who governed Spain, briefly forming a union of kingdoms; in 1640, John IV spearheaded an uprising backed by disgruntled nobles and was proclaimed king.

The Republic of Portugal (República Portuguesa), or Portugal, is a democratic republic located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe; it is the westernmost country in continental Europe.

Because Philip II of Spain was the son of a Portuguese princess, the Spanish ruler became Philip I of Portugal in 1580.

Portugal was recognized as a kingdom with its own king by Leon in 1143 and by the Pope in 1179.

The Republic of Portugal (República Portuguesa), or Portugal, is a democratic republic located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe; it is the westernmost country in continental Europe.

Because Philip II of Spain was the son of a Portuguese princess, the Spanish ruler became Philip I of Portugal in 1580.

Portugal was recognized as a kingdom with its own king by Leon in 1143 and by the Pope in 1179.